Thursday 24 March 2016 10:56, UK
Aged just 23, Juan Agudelo has already played with Thierry Henry, scored some incredible goals and seen a move to the Premier League collapse.
The Colombian-American striker burst onto the scene with the US national team aged just 17, and after a brief stint in Europe two years ago, Agudelo is now looking for MLS Cup glory with New England Revolution.
A product of New York Red Bulls' academy, Agudelo moved on to the now-defunct Chivas USA before a switch to Stoke stalled due to work permit problems.
After a short spell in the Netherlands, Agudelo is back in the States and aiming for MLS glory. We caught up with him to find out more about his whirlwind journey, ahead of his side's clash with New York City this weekend - live on Sky Sports.
What was it like playing and training with Thierry Henry at the New York Red Bulls aged 18?
I learnt so much from him. The first day he got there I couldn't believe he was right next to my locker. I'm an 18-year-old kid just coming into practice and then I've got Henry next to me!
He talked to me and gave me a couple of tips on how to improve my game and complementing it.
It was huge for boosting my confidence, telling me that I could be a good player and that I could play in England one day.
Your move to Stoke City in 2014 didn't work out after signing a pre-contract agreement, why was that?
It was down to work permit reasons. It got denied.
I just fell short of my national team appearances to automatically qualify and be automatically eligible to play in England. I had to go through a court process and it didn't work out.
How did the transfer originate?
Mark Hughes saw I had a couple of caps with the national team since I was 17, at a young age, and I scored a goal.
When Hughes was at Manchester City at the time I heard that he had interest in me and then he went over to Stoke.
I guess he talked to their scouts and told them to keep an eye on me and then eventually when my contract was running out in MLS they wanted to pull the trigger [and sign me].
Growing up watching these teams like Chelsea and Arsenal, it's crazy to think that I almost played in that league because that's the league I look up to. That's the league I would have loved to play in.
You played for Utrecht in the Eredivisie for four months in 2014, what were the differences between MLS and the Dutch league?
I would say it was a little bit less athletic but very, very technical and the technical ability is class.
If you were to set an example, the crossing was a lot better because the players were more consistent but the athleticism was a little bit less than MLS.
You have 20 caps for USA but you're not in the international setup at the moment - have you had any dialogue with Jurgen Klinsmann over your international future?
He has been telling me that he understands that I'm young and I need to prove myself outstandingly in my club and try to make the team of the month in MLS.
He wants me to stand out at my club.
You scored a superb bicycle kick against DC United in the play-offs last year, was it the best goal you've ever scored?
I felt like it was one of those moments where I saw it but I couldn't really believe it.
It was definitely the best goal that I've scored because I didn't believe I was going to be able to achieve it when it was in mid-air.
I managed to get contact on it and it went in so definitely the best goal I've ever scored!
New England are without a win in their first three matches this season - why is that?
I think we maybe just need to be a little bit sharper in the final third, including myself. Collectively, we need to be sharper and finish the chances that we've created or make that extra pass in order to put us in a better position to score a goal.
What is the aim this season?
Every single weekend we're going to try to get three points and hopefully make the play-offs - then everything is fair game in the play-offs.
You see a lot of teams that aren't even in the right form going to play-offs and go on to win the MLS Cup, so I think everybody has a chance of winning.
Of course, with our home record, it would be big for us to have home-field advantage because of the play-offs as we're pretty good at home.
How do you aim to approach New York City FC with all their star names?
We've all watched NYCFC, they've got a new top-class manager now.
They play a little bit differently now with some young, class guys out wide with Andrea Pirlo pulling the strings and David Villa trying to get on the end of things.
At the weekend, just like the manager tells us, we've got to play our own game and not focus too much on the opponent. If we do our job then we'll get our first three points of the season.
Are you excited to play against the likes of David Villa and Andrea Pirlo on Saturday?
Any time I see a fixture on my phone, I see the logo of the team and pick out two or three players that I'm going to say 'wow, I'm going to play against those guys!'
It doesn't even have to be a player. With Patrick Vieira as head coach it's crazy that I'm going to be going up against a coach like him, so I'm very thankful for that. It's always fun!
